Raids

[The Battler]

Velu denied entry to stables
KUALA LUMPUR, 8 November 2003

Trainer K Velu, with 23 horses under his charge, has been denied access to his stables at the Selangor Turf Club (SLTC) for the past two days. His horses have also not been allowed to do trackwork during this period.
All his eight horses — GAYA CERGAS, GAYA CEMERLANG, GOLDEN FIE, JERAM, JERAM FIGHTER, JERAM RAINBOW, RAINBOW EMPEROR and RANGER WARRIOR — which were entered for the Perak Turf Club Coronation Cup/Sultan Gold Vase Meeting in the next two weekends, will now have to be transferred to another trainer in order for them to run.

This is the second time in two months that Velu’s stables have been locked out by the club. Last month, the trainer was locked out when he failed to settle outstanding monies owed to the club.

Velu has also been summoned to attend an inquiry at the SLTC next Tuesday following a routine inspection on his stables by the Stipendiary Stewards on Wednesday morning. The ex-jockey had missed the first inquiry on Thursday.

On Wednesday, the Stipendiary Stewards, led by Chief Stipendiary Steward Philip Dingwall, conducted routine inspection of stables had seized several items from the trainer’s office situated within the stables of the SLTC. These have been sent to an independent laboratory for test.

On Thursday, Velu’s assistant trainer Lim Kheng Chong was slapped a 12-month disqualification for failing to present himself to the officers of the Malayan Racing Association (MRA) following a stable inspection by the stipendiary stewards on Nov 5 when items were seized from the stables.

This is the second successful random check at the stables conducted by the authorities this year. Just early last month, the Penang Stewards raided the stables of trainer Gavin Kelly at Batu Gantong.

A hyperdermic needle and a prohibited substance were found. Kelly was eventually fined a total of RM20,000.

[imaufo]

"A Riding Boy was picked up by the police at Perak Turf Club (PRTC) yesterday morning following a report by Ipoh-based trainer Prakhash Periera that his horse Sumizakura, which finished 10th of 16 runners at the Ipoh races last Saturday, was doped.

It was learnt that the riding boy jumped over the wall into the stables on Friday night and gave the horse some herbal medicine.

The doping of racehorses have been rampant in the Malysian-Singapore circuit in recent years.

Horses in form have been running poorly in recent weeks. Last week, only a handful of favourites obliged with the rest of the races going to outsiders.

Even one-time invincible Flying Ace was beaten into fourth last week, leaving punters scratching their heads as to what had happened to their form."

The article is interesting. What is astonishing to me is that a large circulation and leading regional paper would openly relate the recent failure of favourites to doping, and actually name a horse as a beaten favourite in this doping scandal ... surely you would only name names if you have more than general knowledge of the problem.

[imaufo]

This article is a couple of years old but thought it might prove to be interesting reading.



The Sport of Crooks?

A Probe Into Race Fixing in Singapore and Malaysia
By Santha Oorjitham / Singapore
and Roger Mitton / Kuala Lumpur


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RUNNING WIDE ON THE bends. Allowing your horse to get hemmed in against the rails. Slackening the reins in the sprint for the line. These are just some of the subtle ways a jockey can deliberately lose a race. And the suspicion in Singapore and Malaysia racing circles is that these and other dirty tricks are being used regularly. And it's not just the jockeys doing the cheating.

Singapore press reports say that more than 70 owners, trainers, jockeys and bookmakers were called in for questioning recently by the Corrupt Practices Invest-igation Bureau (CPIB) -- a tough graft-busting organization that answers directly to the office of Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong. The scene at the CPIB headquarters was like a "who's who in racing circles," an eyewitness was quoted as saying.

One trainer was said to have spent 30 hours at the CPIB after being summoned on a Sunday. He returned home on Monday night, only to be brought in the next day, local reports said. The CPIB refused to comment. The Singapore Turf Club, which runs horse racing in the republic, would say only that "certain trainers and jockeys" had been questioned following a meeting on Jan. 28.

Last month, Malaysian police indicated that nine trainers, 12 jockeys and stablehands and members of four betting syndicates were involved in the rigging of races there. At the center of the probes, say insiders, are the activities of a single owner. He has not been officially named, but is believed to be a foreigner. He is suspected of having fixed races in Singapore and Malaysia, where the same jockeys and horses compete.

Whatever the accuracy of the reports, it seems clear that racing on both sides of the Johore Strait is in danger of being hijacked by crooks. Says one Singapore-based owner: "It's getting out of hand. Out of eight races per day, at least three are fixed. Once, at the Perak Turf Club [in Malaysia], the jockey riding my horse was threatened the day before the race and told to make sure my horse didn't win." Neither the owner's horse nor the fixer's runner finished in the money.

The investigations follow a scandal last year in the Singapore and Malaysian soccer worlds, where players received stiff penalties for fixing games in the Malaysia Cup tournament. Malaysia's New Straits Times reported that a swoop on soccer cheats revealed "there was a possibility that the same syndicates were involved in both soccer and horse racing." A Malaysian businessman, Lim Heng Suan, has also been named in connection with Britain's biggest case of soccer corruption, where star goalkeeper Bruce Grobbelaar and others face match-rigging charges.

Racing in Singapore and Malaysia comes under the umbrella authority of the Malayan Racing Association (MRA). Under its regulations, blood samples are taken from all horses about two hours before a race. After the finish, blood and urine samples are taken from the winner and from any horse that race stewards believe should have performed better.

Breaches of the rules can draw suspensions, disqualifications and fines, usually up to about $7,000, but unlimited in serious cases. On Jan. 31, Malaysian jockey Azman Khali was suspended for 12 months for "not allowing his horse to run on its merit" -- one of the most common offenses. In one celebrated incident, a jockey in Singapore was suspended for five years after jumping off his horse during a race.

But, as heavy as the penalties can sometimes be, they are trifling when compared with the vast sums at stake in a sport that is growing in popularity. Last year, Singapore's 32 meetings each attracted an average crowd of 30,000, with 40,000 for blue-ribbon races. Total betting turnover was more than $640 million -- up from about $535 million the year before. It is estimated that illegal bookies, operating without the approval of the Singapore Turf Club, rake in 10 times the official figure.

Insiders say that since the CPIB crackdown in Singapore, the cheats have been lying low. "The jockeys are really scared now," says a source in Malaysia. "But don't expect anything to really change. This case is just a window into an intrinsically dirty business." And they call it the sport of kings.

http://www.asiaweek.com/asiaweek/96/0301/nat2.html

[cheesebeast]

Horse owner disqualified 12 months

KUALA LUMPUR, 16 April 2005


Seah Hock Chin, a registered owner of STRIVE, has been disqualified 12 months for attempting to tamper with his horse on Monday, 4 April 2005.

As a result of a complaint lodged by trainer Peter Clarke, the Stewards yesterday conducted an inquiry and evidence was taken from Seah, Clarke, his Syces Terumurhty (S1034) and Arthimulam (S1101), B Trainer David Chua, Security Officers of the SLTC Haasan bin Hj Basri and Feisal bin Abdul Manaf and Mrs Citra from the Security Department of the SLTC. Major (R) Reza Fauzi Gurmit, Security Manager of the SLTC and Loo Wai Kin, a certified translator, assisted the inquiry.

Seah was found guilty of a charge under MRA Rule 200(7). The particulars being that on or about 11:30am on 4 April 2005 at the stables of licensed trainer P Clarke (F3) of the SLTC, he attempted, using a needle and syringe, to tamper with the racehorse STRIVE, trained by P Clarke, which was entered to race on the 2nd Day, Sunday, 10 April 2005 at the Selangor Turf Club April Meeting 2005.

Further, Seah pleaded guilty to a charge of misconduct under MRA Rule 53(b)(i) in that on or about 11:30am 4 April 2005, he was present at the stable of licensed trainer P Clarke (F3) at the SLTC when unauthorized.

On the first count, Seah was disqualified for a period of twelve months with immediate effect. On the second count he was disqualified for a period of three months which is to be served concurrently with the first charge.